Skip to main content

Really, the lesser of two evils?

Obey the government, for God is the one who has put it there. There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power. (Romans 13:1 TLB)
There are times when I look at the state of things in our country and honestly wonder if God really had much to do with who filled some of these official seats.Then I remember the story of Israel demanding a king, just like all the other nation's around them had. He tried to remind them they needed but ONE authority in their lives and that was HIM. He attempted to dissuade them from "following suit" with all the other nations, but they continued to desire that "government official" sitting on the throne. So, he gave them exactly what they wanted - not exactly what they needed, but what they wanted. There are indeed times our stubbornness to pursue a certain course might just yield us what we want, but veer from what we really genuinely need!
While not all government officials are upright and godly in their attitudes or actions, God is still in control, and he has a few very important directions for us as it comes to our officials who hold office:
- We are to obey the law - not taking it into our own hands, or standing against it in any violent manner. We may not always agree with the laws that are passed, but as long as it doesn't violate scripture or our conscience, we are to adhere to it. We may not see the importance of the taxes we pay, or understand how each penny of those taxes are spent, but we have an obligation to adhere to the practice of paying our taxes. Even Jesus reminded his disciples to "give unto Caesar what is Caesar's and give unto God what is his."
- We are to pray for those who hold these positions - even more so when we see the decisions they are making as being in direct contradiction to what scripture declares. The heads of the leaders can be turned by the hand of God, but our part is to pray for them to listen, hear wisdom with ears that have been turned by God, and then to act upon that wisdom as God would desire. It starts with us praying, though!
- We are to be active in shaping our communities. Christians don't always "step up" to be part of the leading roles in our communities, but if we did might not our communities benefit from this step of obedience and faith? I think Christians avoid office so many times because of the tremendous "hit" they take from those who like to "stir the pot". They are an open book while in office, and the scrutiny of those accusing eyes is often enough to make them shy away from pursuing these posts. This might be all the more reason to pray for them!
It certainly says a great deal about our nation when we hear individuals say, "I voted for the lesser of two evils", doesn't it? If we are to ever see this change, it begins with us - in prayer, example, willingness to serve, and faithful commitment to the standards we know to be true and honest. Just sayin!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What did obedience cost Mary and Joseph?

As we have looked at the birth of Christ, we have considered the fact he was born of a virgin, with an earthly father so willing to honor God with his life that he married a woman who was already pregnant.  In that day and time, a very taboo thing.  We also saw how the mother of Christ was chosen by God and given the dramatic news that she would carry the Son of God.  Imagine her awe, but also see her tremendous amount of fear as she would have received this announcement, knowing all she knew about the time in which she lived about how a woman out of wedlock showing up pregnant would be treated.  We also explored the lowly birth of Jesus in a stable of sorts, surrounded by animals, visited by shepherds, and then honored by magi from afar.  The announcement of his birth was by angels - start to finish.  Mary heard from an angel (a messenger from God), while Joseph was set at ease by a messenger from God on another occasion - assuring him the thing he was about to do in marrying Mary wa

A brilliant display indeed

Love from the center of who you are ; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply ; practice playing second fiddle. Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. (Romans 12:9-12) Integrity and Intensity don't seem to fit together all that well, but they are uniquely interwoven traits which actually complement each other. "Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it." God asks for us to have some intensity (fervor) in how we love (from the center of who we are), but he also expects us to have integrity in our love as he asks us to be real in our love (don't fake it). They are indeed integral to each other. At first, we may only think of integrity as honesty - some adherence to a moral code within. I believe there is a little more to integrity than meets the eye. In the most literal sense,

Do me a favor

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. (Philippians 2:1-4) Has God's love made ANY difference in your life? What is that difference? Most of us will likely say that our lives were changed for the good, while others will say there was a dramatic change. Some left behind lifestyles marked by all manner of outward sin - like drug addiction, alcoholism, prostitution, or even thievery. There are many that will admit the things they left behind were just a bit subtler - what we can call inward sin - things like jealousy,